Kotori's Change
by Azurknight
Summary: The sequel to Kotori's Realization. Another short romance story for Shido and Kotori.


Kotori's Change

Three months have passed since Shido and Kotori decided to start over as a man and a woman, but things haven't been going entirely as planned. First off, their parents, while not opposed to the idea, still need more time to get comfortable with it. However, the biggest obstacle is Shido and Kotori themselves. Due to the years they've spent as brother and sister, it makes it hard for them to act like they aren't siblings. Shido is twenty now, and Kotori is eighteen; this means that Kotori is proper age to marry, but a part of her doesn't want Shido to propose yet. The same applies to Shido himself since, while he does love Kotori, he finds it hard to imagine doing "adult things" with her.

Shido is walking around town and waiting for his date with Kotori. They've been going on regular dates since they decided to start over, and have been going to different restaurants to be more serious about their relationship. As he walks around, Shido passes by Danny's and remembers the times he's eaten there with Kotori and how she would smile as she ate her lunch with him. It makes him feel like he and Kotori's relationship hasn't really felt right since that day three months ago.

Kotori is back at their home and is getting ready for her date with Shido. She is wearing a new red dress that her mom bought for her, trying to show her support, and is looking at her black and her white ribbons, deciding which to wear. However, she thinks to herself.

" _I'll look childish with these ribbons on, but I like them. No, I want to show that I'm serious about this."_

Kotori decides to just let her hair down and not have it tied like she usually does. She also puts on some blush and a light shade of red lipstick. She and Shido are planning on having a date at a new French restaurant that recently opened. She and Shido have been going to places like this to show that they want be more "adult" in their relationship.

Shido puts on a nice set of clean and new clothes that his father bought him to also show his support. Shido even got a starting job at Asgard Electronics. He makes decent money, but not enough to support a family; just enough to take Kotori on dates. He has also taken to buying her flowers before their dates, and each time, he buys a different set. The first date they went on, he got her roses, then violets, daffodils, marigolds, among other kinds. This time, he decides to get her a bouquet of dahlias.

At the same time, Tohka and Yoshino are also trying to learn to accept the relationship since Yoshinon is giving them weird ideas. At the moment, the girls are eating lunch at Shido's place since he usually has them over for lunch whenever he can so that he doesn't neglect their feelings. Tohka is probably the most accepting of Shido's relationship with Kotori, despite still having feelings for him. She has given her support in more ways than one and has even given dating advice to Kotori (Not that she really needs it in the first place) and has even offered to guard their bedroom door(not knowing what that would actually mean). Yoshino has also been supportive as well.

The girls eat their lunch, and, out of the blue, Yoshinon asks Shido, in a mischievous tone.

"So Shido, what base have you been to recently, or have you hit a home run yet?"

Yoshino puts her hand on Yoshinon's mouth to keep her from talking since that question made everyone feel awkward. Shido, still wearing his new clothes, replies, in an uncomfortable tone.

"Uh, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

Tohka, now flustered herself, adds by saying.

"I want to know."

Shido responds, nervously.

"Come again?"

Tohka gets more serious, but is still flustered.

"I want to know the things you've done with her!"

Shido blushes and quickly replies.

"Look, all we've done, at the most, is just kissing, okay!"

Yoshino tugs at Tohka's sleeve and says.

"Tohka, remember that we promised to support Shido's choice."

Tohka backs off and apologizes. Yoshino then tells Shido.

"Shido, its okay to French Kotori, if you'd like."

Shido then has "heh" look as Yoshino explains.

"I heard that couples French when they care enough for each other."

Yoshinon puts her little paws over her mouth as she says, mischievously."

"I told her that hehehe."

Yoshino puts her hand over Yoshinon's mouth and paws since she may say too much. Shido can't help but think.

" _How much does that puppet know, that Yoshino doesn't? I hope not too much."_

Shido ignores the train of thought he is having since he needs to get going on his date with Kotori. Kotori and Shido are still living together, but she left into town earlier to get some newer makeup. Shido thinks that moving into a new home would be redundant since, besides his relationship with Kotori advancing, nothing has really changed.

Later, Shido meets Kotori in front of the restaurant and she's wearing the dress their mom bought for her. A light red armless dress that reaches to her shins, red high heels, and she even has a matching small purse. Shido is wearing a black button collar short-sleeved shirt with clean new jeans and white shoes. With how Kotori looks, Shido wonders if he's even talking with the same girl; since she's wearing makeup, wearing a fancy dress, and isn't wearing her ribbons. Despite this change, Shido can see that Kotori is very serious, so he goes with it. To show his support, he tells Kotori, in a genuine tone.

"You look great, Kotori."

Kotori blushes and says, slightly flustered."

"Well, I wanted to look serious, you know."

Shido takes puts his arm around Kotori, causing her to become more flustered, and they enter the restaurant. As stated before, it is a French themed restaurant that opened about four weeks ago. The inside, of course, is fancy and has plenty of fancy décor.

Shido and Kotori get a great window seat that allows them to see into the outside area of the restaurant and see the garden that accompanies the tables. Shido also looks around at the other customers and sees plenty of couples that are dressed similarly to him and Kotori. The menu is filled with stuff that neither Shido nor Kotori has even heard of, so Shido asks, in a questioning tone.

"Are you sure you want to eat here, Kotori?"

Kotori doesn't really; in fact, it was their dad who made the reservation for them. Kotori responds, with a forced smile.

"Of course I do, this…soup, I think, looks good."

Kotori can't entirely tell what the foods are supposed to be since they are named in French and their descriptions are vague about what the dish actually is. In the end, and with help from the waitress, the two order a full three course dinner. The three courses consist of soup, a small meat dish, a pudding-type dessert, and for fun, grape juice that is served in a wine bottle meant for underage couples.

The food is good, despite not really knowing what is in it, and the atmosphere is amazing, but Shido doesn't feel like he's on a date with Kotori at all. It feels like he's on a blind date with some girl with red hair, at a place she picked based completely on outside appearances. Kotori hasn't even once pulled out a lollipop to snack on the entire time they've been out. On the other hand, Kotori has actually been nervous about not looking adult enough for Shido. She has been going out of her way to appear more mature despite that she's grown a little since she was fourteen, she's developed a little more, and her hair is slightly longer.

Shido feels so out place with everything considered, and asks Kotori, in a wondering tone.

"Hey Kotori, I was wondering, are you enjoying yourself?"

Kotori is clearly forcing a smile as she answers.

"Yeah, don't be stupid."

Shido is suspecting that Kotori isn't having fun either, but he won't force her to say anything if she doesn't want to. They finish their meal, which was incredible, the restaurant's food does live up to its hype, but Shido just doesn't enjoy his time at this wonderful place, and neither does Kotori.

The next portion of their date is going to the park. At this point, it's late at night and the two are walking down a stone walkway. Kotori is having a slightly hard time walking in her new high heels and almost falls down a couple of times, but Shido grabs her and stops her from falling. However, she's reluctant to accept his help and tells him.

"Look, I don't your help. I can walk in these on my ow…"

Kotori finally loses her balance completely and falls down on her rear. Moments later, she starts rubbing her soar rear as it clearly hurt a bit. Shido then extends his hand to help her up and tells her.

"See, you can't keep your balance in those things."

Kotori blushes with embarrassment again as Shido helps her get up. Shido then takes off his nice white shoes, and hands them to Kotori so she can move properly. Kotori decides to swallow her pride since she doesn't want to embarrass herself again. Shido has to go only wearing his socks, but he's more concerned with Kotori than his feet.

Little do the two know, Tohka and Yoshino are following them through the park. Luckily, it's too dark for the two of them to notice. Tohka and Yoshino aren't trying to spoil the night; rather, they are actually trying to help push the two together. They have gathered items from various stores with a list that Tohka obtained from talking with Ai, Mai, and Mii; the three of them heard about Shido and Kotori's relationship through Tohka. They, like others, thought it was weird, but after hearing Tohka explain why she wants show her support, the three decided to aid Tohka.

Back to the couple. A few more minutes of walking begins to take its toll on Kotori's feet. She hasn't shown it, but her feet have been hurting from wearing those high heels for as long as she was, so she sits down on a nearby bench to give her feet some time to breath. She takes off the shoes that Shido let her wear, and she looks at the bottom of her feet to see that they are red on the bottom, and there's a blister on the on the left foot that is bleeding a little. She exclaims with irritation.

"Crap, that freaking hurts!"

Shido immediately takes notice of this, and checks out her feet. He gets concerned and asks.

"Is this because you wore those heels?"

Kotori doesn't answer, so Shido picks her up and carries her in his arms, and says.

"We're going home to put some ice on your feet."

Kotori looks a little embarrassed, but nods. Tohka and Yoshino saw what happened, and back out. Yoshino looks at Tohka, and says.

"I hope they find the bag we left for them back at their home."

Tohka has a sparkle in her eye as she agrees with Yoshino. At their home, Shido fills a small tub with ice and has Kotori, who is sitting on the couch, put her sore feet in it. When she does, she sighs with relief because the cool ice feels really good. Shido sits down next to her and asks the question he should have asked from the start.

"Kotori, why are you dressed like that?"

Kotori gets defensive and retorts.

"You said that I look great, you creep!"

Kotori looks at Shido and sees his genuine concern and lowers her head.

"Sorry."

Shido then looks at the ceiling and explains.

"You do look great, but the problem is…I don't feel like I looking at the Kotori I know. I mean the makeup, your hair, the high heels, even that purse you had. The dress is fine though."

Shido then reaches into his pocket and pulls out Kotori's black ribbons. He was hoping that she would ask for her ribbons on their date, but she didn't. Kotori then looks her at reflection in television screen, and says.

"You're right, look at me. I don't even recognize myself. I look like a call girl."

Now Shido immediately adds.

"Don't compare yourself to that, please."

Kotori then explains herself some more.

"Well, I just wanted to look more mature. I thought if I did, then it would make this easier on the both of us. Our relationship hasn't really…"

Shido gets more serious.

"Kotori…our relationship hasn't felt right because we aren't being ourselves, the way we know each other."

Kotori agrees, but has to point out.

"Maybe, but the way we know each other is as siblings, and we decided to start over."

"So what? As siblings, we know each other so well. So how about this, we continue our relationship, but let's act more like ourselves, and stop with this "trying to be more mature thing". In fact…"

Shido stands up and goes into Kotori's room (she'll give him crap for this later) and grabs her white ribbons, which are lying on her bed. He then returns to Kotori and ties her hair, and when he finishes, to her surprise, he has tied her hair into its usual style. However, when she looks at her reflection again, she notices that he has tied her hair with one white ribbon and one black ribbon. She looks at Shido and asks.

"Why did you tie my hair with one black and one white?"

Shido casually says.

"Well, I think this should be the symbol of our change. Not putting on makeup and going to a restaurant that makes us feel out of our element."

Kotori likes it and then looks at her makeup again.

"I think I'll go wash this junk off my face."

Kotori stands up and her foot is okay enough for her to go into the kitchen to use the faucet. Shido has to use the bathroom, so that's why Kotori is using the kitchen faucet. As she splashes water on her face, Kotori then notices a bag with the words "Good things for the date" written on it. She grabs it, looks inside it, and her face turns red like a tomato, and thinks to herself.

" _So, he thought THAT would happen tonight!"_

Kotori doesn't know that Tohka and Yoshino had been following them this night, and thinks that Shido is the one that bought what is in that bag. So when Shido exits the bathroom, Kotori is waiting outside the door to give him a hard kick.

Fourteen years later, Kotori is sitting on the couch of their home with her daughter, Akane. She is actually telling her daughter about that night. She is wearing a simple white dress with black trim, and is wearing her hair the same way with the two ribbons, and a lollipop in her mouth. She is also explaining the last part of the story.

"Well, I kicked your father so hard, that I actually ruptured the blister on my foot. It hurt so bad that I had to see a doctor."

Shido walks into the room, wearing a suit, and kisses Kotori on the cheek, and adds.

"Yeah, and I got foot shaped bruise on stomach that also hurt really bad for about six weeks."

Kotori grabs Shido by his tie and pulls his face closer to kiss him on the lips. Akane is used to her parents doing things like this. When she pushes his face back, Shido now has her lollipop in his mouth, and gives it back to his wife. He then utters.

"I wish wouldn't do that when you have candy in your mouth, Kotori."

He then looks his daughter and asks.

"What would you like for dinner tonight, Akane, anything you want."

Akane is eight years old, and is wearing a standard elementary school uniform. She is wearing her mother's other white ribbon around her neck, and has short red hair. She is tapping her fingers together with a cute look as she answers her father.

"Well… I'd like to go to Danny's, and…"

Shido walks over to his daughter and rubs her head as he tells her.

"Of course, just let me get rest for a moment."

Akane gets a bright smile and says.

"Thanks, Daddy, I love you."

Shido goes into his and Kotori's room to sit down for a few mintues. Kotori walks over and sits next to her daughter, gets a slightly mischievous smile and whispers to Akane.

"Good girl."

Akane also gets a little mischievous smile as she also whispers.

"I learned from the best."

Akane then reveals the black ribbion tied to the collar of her shirt as she gives her mom the thumbs up.

 **Author's Note- I am super sorry to Kotori fans that this sequel took so long. Kotori is actually a character I rather enjoy, personally.**


End file.
